Rocky Roberts

Rocky Roberts
Rocky Roberts
Background information
Birth name	Charles Roberts
Born	August 23, 1940; Tanner, Alabama, U.S.
Died	January 14, 2005 (aged 64); Rome, Italy
Genres	R&B; Southern soul;
Occupation	Singer
Years active	1960–2004
Labels	Vis Radio [it]; RGE; Barclay; Decca; Ariston; Durium; London; Parrot;

Charles "Rocky" 'Roberts (August 23, 1940 – January 13, 2005) was an American naturalized Italian rhythm and blues singer.

Born in Tanner, Alabama, Roberts served in the United States Navy and was a Navy champion boxer. He first got interested in singing after listening to a country-oriented musician named Doug Fowlkes, whose band the Airdales (US-navy slang for Navy pilots) used to perform on the ship where Roberts was stationed. Fowlkes, impressed by Roberts' voice, eventually agreed to let him sit in with the band.^[1]

Roberts won a singing competition while on shore leave in Juan-les-Pins, France, and chose to stay in Europe after retiring from the Navy in 1962.^[2]^[1]

Roberts had a stint in France performing at ORTF television show Les raisins verts, and achieved some success with an early version of "T-Bird" and "Monkiss".

In 1965 Renzo Arbore and Gianni Boncompagni invited Roberts to Rome to record the theme of their Radio Show, Bandiera Gialla. The song, "T-Bird", was a hit in the Italian charts and Roberts settled in Rome.

In 1967, Roberts had a major Italian hit, "Stasera Mi Butto", which sold 3.7 million copies^[1] and won the Festivalbar.^[3] The song's success led to a 1967 motion picture of the same title, starring Roberts. He appeared subsequently in several other Italian films.

He was known for always wearing dark sunglasses.^[2]^[1]

Roberts sang the Luis Bacalov-written theme song from the 1966 film, Django.^[4] Quentin Tarantino reused the recording as the opening theme for his 2012 film Django Unchained.^[5]

He died of lung cancer in Rome in 2005 at the age of 64.^[2]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1967	Non mi dire mai good-bye
1967	Stasera mi butto	Himself
1967	Una ragazza tutta d'oro	Himself
1968	I ragazzi di Bandiera Gialla	Himself
1969	Il ragazzo che sorride	Rocky	(final film role)